1913–1942 In 1913, Noone was playing professionally with
Freddie Keppard, In 1917, Noone played with
Kid Ory and
Oscar Celestin until the Storyville district was permanently closed. He played for two years (1918–1920) at Chicago's Royal Garden Cafe with
Paul Barbarin (drums),
King Oliver,
Bill Johnson (bass), Lottie Taylor (piano) and Eddie Vinson (trombone). In 1926, Noone began to lead the band at the Apex Club, one of a wealth of
Jazz Age clubs on Chicago's
South Side. Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra had an unusual instrumentation—a front line consisting of clarinet and alto saxophone (, who worked with Noone in Doc Cook's band),
Benny Goodman was among the teenage musicians often seen at the Apex Club. "He absorbed in his own playing the beautiful tone and sparkling flow of Jimmie Noone", wrote
John S. Wilson, music critic for
The New York Times. Not yet ten years old,
Nat King Cole listened to Noone's band on the radio, and he would sneak out his window to sit in the alley outside the nightclub and listen to Noone and Hines. Some ten years later, when a customer badgered Cole to sing along with his instrumental trio, the first song he sang was "
Sweet Lorraine", Noone's theme song. Noone remained in Chicago, working at the Apex Club until it was raided and shut down in 1929,—but he went back to his small-ensemble format. Arriving in Los Angeles, Noone was confronted with a massive housing shortage due to the population boom associated with the war industry. On September 14, 1943, Ted LeBerthon of
The Los Angeles Daily News wrote a column pleading for someone to rent or sell a home to Noone: I noted that Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw or Woody Herman, three outstanding white jazz clarinetists and band leaders, would have found a home because, being white, they did not have to confine their search to a limited restricted area. Also, I pointed out, they made far bigger money because of being white, and could afford to pay a far higher rental. The situation, I observed, was cruelly ironic. For
Hugues Panassié, the distinguished French music critic, in his book
The Real Jazz, had acclaimed Jimmie Noone as the greatest clarinetist of all time, the possessor of a more beautiful, more poignant tone and a player able to summon more sensitive nuances than any other. The late
Maurice Ravel, who acknowledged basing his
Boléro on a Jimmie Noone improvisation, had publicly dared any symphonic clarinetist to perform Jimmie's technical feats. But in Los Angeles there was no place for Jimmie and his lovely wife, Rita. The column brought about LeBerthon's dismissal after seven years with the
Daily News. and their three children had to move back to Chicago while Noone continued to look for a place for them to live. In addition to it being a burdensome expense for the musician, LeBurthon later reported that the stress on Noone aggravated a cardiac ailment that had emerged during the Depression years. By February 1944, however, Noone was able to find a home in Los Angeles for his family and after some delays they were reunited. in Hollywood. Their performances on the Welles show were so popular that the band became a regular feature and launched Ory's comeback. Noone performed on four broadcasts of
The Orson Welles Almanac. On the morning of the fifth broadcast, April 19, 1944, Noone suddenly died at home of a heart attack, aged 48. In 1952, Ory reflected on writing the tune, which by then was regarded a classic. "I got up right away and began blowing some blues on my horn. I was real sad; Jimmie was my best friend," Ory said. "I found a man to fill in for Jimmie on clarinet. Then I got the band together that afternoon and we rehearsed the tune. On the show that night Mr. Welles explained the situation over the air. I don't mind saying that when we played 'Blues for Jimmie' all the musicians in the band were crying. So was Mr. Welles, and the audience, too." As he did every time the All Star Jazz Group appeared, Welles introduced each musician by name, and that night he introduced New Orleans-born clarinetist Wade Whaley, sitting in for Noone. and his last recordings were made for Capitol's
New American Jazz album (Capitol A-3, August 1944), produced by
Dave Dexter, Jr. Dexter called Noone "a gracious, personable and musicianly artist—one whose devotion to the early New Orleans style of playing was ever apparent—and with his passing the profession lost another of its pioneers." In August 1944, the Musicians Congress sponsored a memorial concert at the
Trocadero in Noone's honor, and for the benefit of his family. Featured artists included the All Star Jazz Group,
Calvin Jackson,
Wingy Manone,
Johnny Mercer, the
Nicholas Brothers,
Earl Robinson,
Rex Stewart,
Joe Sullivan and
Dooley Wilson.
Albert Dekker was master of ceremonies. ==Discography==